NOVPUBBy the time I returned to the hospital, my client for the day had still yet to decide on whether they would like a cybernetic replacement for their injured limb or treatment. It was frankly ridiculous how long they were taking. It had been almost two hours, so I confronted them head-on.
“Daniel Keaton,” I read off the patient files. “How goes your discussions with your companions? Anything you want me to clarify or elaborate on?”
“Sure thing Doc. We settled on a three thousand credit budget, but we could use some help picking what I should get. You have a lot of choices here, but I can’t say that helps in narrowing down the choices. I’m not even sure if I should blow my entire budget on a cyberarm or a mix with something more specialized.”
“Any particular requirements?”
“Whatever you think will help us in err—survive in this city.”
“Well, a new arm for sure, but if survival is your priority, maybe use some of that budget for our new subdermal armor product line. It’s our newest tech and is substantially better than what is in the existing market while not requiring any downtime after installation.”
It was ironic that I finally worked on more protection-oriented cyberware after the war, but it couldn’t be helped. I had power armor, after all. It was only when we looked at business opportunities that had a huge market potential that I began studying the economical alternative for personal protection.
Plus, I don’t think I ever would’ve wanted to install something that would change the way my skin felt. That’s why our latest subdermal armor only hardened upon being impacted, allowing for naturally feeling skin.
“That sounds—good, but pricey, Doc. You sure that will work with our budget?”
“Yes, yes. We have various versions at different price ranges. The one within your budget should be good for more small-arm calibers as long as you don’t plan on soaking up a whole mag.”
“Er, sure, we’ll go with that, then.”
I wasted no time and brought my client to the surgical table right away. Having expanded my biological study recently, it was a nice refresher to the human anatomy. It was also a good method of obtaining lab specimens from a wide range of people. I’m sure no one paid any mind what I did with their blood or fleshy parts that they voluntarily gave up for cybernetics. It wasn’t like I was going to clone them or anything either, so just some harmless experiments on improving human longevity.
With the most advanced equipment available, the entire ordeal only took half an hour. After leaving my patient to the hospital staff, I finally had to return to HQ to do some actual work.
Lanus helpfully organized a to-do list for me, which I dove into immediately. Things would’ve taken a lot longer if we hadn’t switched everything over to digital. With some drastic change on the horizon, I saw no need to comply with the corporate traditions anymore. No longer would I use real paper for important documents, allowing things to flow along much faster.
My SAID could help me read over things several times faster. No more page flipping, as whatever I needed would be pulled up to my optics. The only drawback was that I needed to be on the local network, which meant I needed to be physically in the office to have access. It wasn’t that bad though, considering I lived in the same compound.
Having blown through all my work, I was eventually left with only the meetings. I started with the most important one.
“NPC, or should I call you Krai?” I asked the powerful leader of the largest corporation who had recently become a public figure. “That’s your real name, right?”
With the end of the war, a figure needed to step up to quell the unrest. Someone from within SocialCorp had to put on a display that they were in control. It was necessary to keep the other corporations in check. A majority of NPC’s allies didn’t even know what his ultimate plan was, so a strong front was needed.
“Hmm, yes, Krai would be preferable, as I would rather not have anyone question me should they overhear my other name. And yes, according to the legal paperwork filed, Krai is my name.”
Okay, that’s a no, then. Whatever. This old fossil has been alive for like what? Over a hundred years? It’s not surprising he has many aliases.
“So anyway, our project is on schedule and from what I’ve been hearing, it’s been smooth on your end as well?”
Krai nodded.
“Yes, with the incentives you are able to provide, it’s not exactly hard to neuter the more unruly mutts. If your project is on schedule, does that mean it’s currently in the testing phase?”
“That’s right,” I answered.
“Then send me the preliminary copy. We’ll begin implementing it on the colony world immediately. The hard evidence gathered should make any opposition falter for when it is time.”
“This wasn’t part of our plan. I don’t think revealing to the world you’ve been carrying out human experiments on a large scale is a good way to start your little presentation.”
“That is a burden for me to bear.”
I frowned, but didn’t say anything. He moved on to the next topic without care as my mind was stuck deliberating what his underlying plan was.
I wasn’t one hundred percent trusting of him ever since we met. The world wasn’t as simple as black and white, so I had always been on guard against any hidden motives my ally had.
From my judgment, he really did seem like he wanted what was best for the world. It didn’t come from the goodness of his heart as I knew he was carrying out his old friend, the Gamer’s wishes. However, different people could have different interpretations of what a better world looked like.
At some point in time, I noticed Krai had stopped talking, having noticed my mind wandering. An awkward minute passed when neither of us said anything on the call. I took a deep breath and decided to just be straightforward with him.
“Krai—it seems like your plan has changed or you had kept a part of it hidden. I request that you be honest with me. It’s the least you can do after pulling me to the side that will be going up against the entire corporate world.”
“Hm, that is my intention. I simply had trouble broaching the subject, so your candor is appreciated. I’ll reply just as frankly, then. Rollo Halls, I need you to die with me.”
Time flew by and before I knew it, the day to announce the AI governance plan had come.
Krai had set up a press conference, inviting every major player to the venue he selected, the event hall located at the bottom of the space elevator.
Every notable corporation had come, not because they respected SocialCorp’s power, but because they were all reeling in pain for various reasons. For the entire year after the war, numerous companies were discovered to be making power players within their industries. Naturally, their competitors wouldn’t take it lying down, and a silent war was being waged throughout every inch of human-occupied territory.
Of course, this was all the handiwork of SocialCorp, empowered by my stealth tech. It took corporate espionage to another level, easily pitting companies against each other, and causing friction to arise at every level of the corporate ladder. It was inevitable the world would become destabilized as a result, but we accounted for that by hiring numerous mercenaries.
These gun-for-hires would either do damage control as an external party or if they were hired by one of these corporations, they were paid to keep the collateral damage down. It wasn’t perfect, but we did our best. My company’s hospitals were one of these efforts.
All of our hard work had been for today.
“There’s a lot of press for a corporate gathering, or is it the other way around?” Thorne commented as we passed through the security to the enormous event hall.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
It had been styled like the presidential press conferences, with all the chairs facing a modest stage on one end of the room where a lone podium stood. No one was up near the microphone yet, but I could spot Krai’s entourage next to the platform.
The front part of the hall was all allocated to the largest corporations, so our assigned seats were naturally toward the middle. We hadn’t exactly publicized Halls Corporation’s involvement in the SocialCorp war, so few knew of our relationship with them. Only the more well-informed corporate executives knew about me, which was already more than I’d like.
Unfortunately, these big companies weren’t blind. My close dealings with Krai throughout the past year were something closely monitored. They didn’t know what we were doing, but they knew I was involved.
Well, to be precise, they knew our project was something that used a lot of electronic hardware. The requirement to create an AI that could manage billions of people wasn’t exactly modest. For it to be effective, it needed to at least be able to monitor every influential group.
In order to obfuscate our intentions, we even dropped hints of SocialCorp’s big plan to take greater control of society. The surveillance software, cameras, spy satellites, and other means were all justified as a way to ease the tensions plaguing the corporate world. I couldn’t wait to see their surprise today when it was made known it was actually the opposite. It would be the last nail in the coffin that would end their dominance.
After waiting for an entire hour, the event finally began. Everyone settled in their seats as the current leader of SocialCorp made his way up to the podium.
“Thank you for coming today, everyone. It’s great to see so many of you here, especially during these turbulent times. Some of you may or may not know me, but I am the current CEO of SocialCorp, Krai Kovac. On behalf of my company and all its shareholders, I am honored to stand before all of you today.”
A round of applause coursed through the venue. Krai waited until everyone settled down before continuing.
“I’m sure you’d all want me to cut to the chase and get to the major announcement we have been alluding to, so I will do that just. As many of you have suspected, our company has successfully developed a solution to quell the chaotic time we’re going through due to the consequences we created. Let me introduce to you the powerful and safe artificial intelligence we have created in order to return peace to our society.”
The room darkened at his words, with a holographic projection instantly materializing before him.
It outlined the hardware system that consisted of dozens of facilities throughout Earth and Space that house the specialized AI I created. At the center of the revolving images of these facilities, it displayed the name, “CM-GOV”.
I watched as the various leaders of corporations went over the images. They thought they knew what SocialCorp was up to, and their thoughtful looks betrayed how eager they were to find loopholes to take advantage of. They didn’t even care if the largest corporation consolidated more power, they were more focused on how to thrive in the situation. It was all because of the pressure they were facing in recent times.
“I’ve publicized an info packet regarding CM-GOV throughout the net. It has all the details you need to know. Please take a moment to go through it,” Krai continued.
I had the honor of watching the quick-minded corpos realize what the CM-GOV actually entailed when they actually read it over. One of them lost all composure, shot up from their seat, and yelled out toward the host.
“Mr. Kovac, there’s a critical typo in your documents! The info packet has misspelled Corporate as Civilian. You must change this as soon as possible lest it cause widespread confusion!”
His words caused some of the other corpos to wake up, jumping in to agree with him as well.
“Calm down, everyone,” Krai placated. “The information listed is correct. CM-GOV stands for Civilian Monitored Governance System. Starting today, an impartial and one hundred percent efficient central authority will be established.”
“That’s ridiculous! None of us will stand for this farce! Your company is just trying to take over everything, but supplanting your own AI to be king!”
“That’s right. Not even SocialCorp can do this. Surely, you don’t plan on forcing the rest of us to band together to stand up to your tyranny, right?”
“There will be no tyranny anymore,” Krai answered. “Please take a look at the info packet. All of CM-GOV’s source code is public information and can be monitored in real time. Any changes and updates will be made known for all to see. Adequate safeguards have been put in place where the AI will be reset if any tampering happens. It would then lock down for a time and peruse through its old memories and take appropriate action. No foul play will be possible.”
The crowd was stunned into silence by the preposterous claims they heard. I could already tell a great number of them were firing off messages to put together a response to this. I didn’t interfere and allowed them to continue.
Seeing the silence, Krai didn’t mind and proudly elaborated on his system.
“We have also plans to exponentially speed up the distribution of educational content pertaining to programming knowledge. It will allow the populace to understand and audit the code of the CM-GOV. Only then could people feel assured of its recommendations. Otherwise, this system will fail without the people’s cooperation. That is because the AI can only give recommendations. It cannot take action. Your continued vigilance is required so that this artificial system remains incorruptible,” Krai spoke passionately toward the cameras instead of the corporate audience.
He then went on to explain how there was nothing to fear. The CM-GOV wasn’t an emotionless AI whose interest would have no empathy when making decisions. I knew he wasn’t bullshitting because I was its creator. It was a monumental feat to create an AI with the capability of understanding human emotion while not being prone to go haywire as a result of it.
I couldn’t help but chuckle when the companies finally pulled their shit together and various forces began to deploy. It didn’t last a full minute before their equipment shut down and our conspirators turned coat.
“All military forces will soon be centralized,” Krai proclaimed in a timely manner. “A limit will be imposed as to what a company could retain as a security force. I implore all companies to have their forces stand down and await further instruction.
This farce lasted another hour before hundreds of soldiers, wearing uniforms that bore the emblem of CM-GOV, entered the hall to pacify the frantic executives. They were taken into custody, with their fate left in the hands of their new AI overlord. I was sure it could make the most suitable recommendations to the judges stuck with the role of handling them. It would at least be capable of identifying any favoritism, so it could help spot out the corrupt judges as well.
“Please do not panic. We are only temporarily taking you into custody,” the soldiers warned.
I nodded and played along. The entire event was being played to the entire world. We ensured every channel and stream would be broadcasting this event.
I only had to comply until we were out of sight, where I was then released.
There would inevitably be a lot of chaos over the next few days. The smart thing was to hunker down in my compound, but there was more to do. There would be a ribbon-cutting ceremony taking place in the city the next morning. It would be where Krai would greet the public this time, instead of just the corporate bigshots.
It took place at a recently renovated plaza, where one of the entrances to one of the many bunkers that hosted the CM-GOV was located.
I didn’t bother to arrive early, as Krai was just spewing the same spiel to the crowd, but I had to be there. It was because I would be introduced to the world.
“Next up, please allow me to introduce to you the creator of the innovative CM-GOV that will bring a new era to our race.”
I walked on stage under the scrutiny of a diverse group of onlookers. The crowd included everything from low-level office workers and small business owners to beggars, gang members, and other elements of the criminal underworld.
I cleared my throat and introduced myself. My speech had been prepared beforehand, and I kept it short.
“I don’t know the future, so I can’t say what it entails, but I can assure you it will be a lot brighter than today. We’ve worked hard to ensure corporate dominance will not be able to take hold again. The corpo age is over. No matter what they do, even when if I or SocialCorp cease to exist tomorrow, it’s already too late to change the course. As long as you are all vigilant, you should be equipped to root out any corruption in the foreseeable future.”
I stood off to the side after my speech and waited for Krai to have his finishing words. Unfortunately, things didn’t end so easily there. Before he could finish, alarms rang all around us. A warning was broadcast to everyone’s system regarding an incoming missile barrage.
“It seems the safeguards you talked about were real,” I muttered to my partner in crime. “Those assholes were really ready to nuke the world if they lost their power.”
Krai simply nodded as he turned his head up toward the sky. A minute later, the sound of weapons whirling could be heard as the AA defenses cycled. They fired almost immediately after, causing explosions to ring out throughout the skies of Elevate City.
Cries filled the scene as some civilians panicked while others ran for cover. Krai and I simply remained motionless as more missiles were intercepted. We could tell this was happening throughout every major hub that hosted a branch of SocialCorp, but our area was the focus of the attack. It was clear the remaining corpos wanted Krai gone.
Just as everyone calmed down as they thought things were under control, another barrage came, causing even more debris to rain down around the city.
For a split second, the darkness consumed me as something blocked the sunlight from reaching me. I turned in time to recognize the flaming piece of debris that was only a few feet from reaching me.
“It’s an emergency broadcast, everyone! Moments after the largest corporation around announced their intention to support a new government structure monitored by civilians, the corporations retaliated! Every major city in the solar system is under attack, but unsurprisingly, SocialCorp was prepared. However, accidents were still inevitable! I’ve received credible news that a piece of debris managed to flatten their CEO, Krai Kovac, as well as the supposed creator of the CM-GOV artificial intelligence system. Multiple sources have verified the remains left at the scene matched both heroes!”
The same news broadcast was played on a loop only a few hours after the attack. It caused everyone in the city to feel unsettled.
Thankfully, the nascent organization centered around the CM-GOV proved they were up to the task right away. They managed to take care of the aftermath, calming the populace and taking immediate action to improve people’s lives. It caused many people to seriously study this unfamiliar AI, with many seeking to prove it to be a threat to humanity.
Combined with the programming cassettes and accompanying SAID units spreading like wildfire, a programming boom emerged.
In the midst of the world progressing rapidly, it wasn’t long before the focus shifted from the dead CEO and creator.
Everyone was too busy adapting to the arrival of a new age.
